Applicant's continuation-in-part U.S. Ser. No. 10/622,172 disclosed novel methods relating to compact wheelbarrows and carts. Ser. No. 10/622,172 evolved from applicant's prior applications, including continuation-in-part U.S. Ser. No. 10/346,112, filed on Jan. 17, 2003, wherein disclosures were made relating to compact, folding walking or jogging strollers and similar cargo carriers and disclosed new and unique pivoting and stowable wheel mechanisms for a typically forward wheel on jogging or walking strollers, but also broadly adaptable to other carts and cargo carriers, with different wheel configurations. In another U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/157,980, the applicant disclosed compact wagon and cart carrier devices with pivoting and stowable wheels, underside supports, and handles. This particular application also integrates several innovations of the applicant described in the jogging stroller/cargo carrier application referenced above, with various disclosures adapted from the compact wagon/cart application Ser. No. 10/157,980, along with new innovations. A number of these innovations are therefore integrated for wheelbarrows or similar wheeled carts disclosed herein.
This continuation in part application discloses details of assembly, shipping and stowing of the component parts of wheelbarrows and carts focusing on efficiency of shipping, display and storage of these bulky and unwieldy carrier devices, in a manner not disclosed by any prior art. Some prior inventions have disclosed methods of collapsing some parts of a sub-assembly of a carrier device, such as Tomchak, et al, in both Ser. No. 216,071 (filed Sep. 9, 2002) and Ser. No. 431,078 (filed on May 7, 2003). However, the prior art relating to carrier device subassembly units fails to provide methods for folding or collapsing each and every component part of such carrier devices (including its wheel or wheels) in a compact, selectively movable sub-assembly which itself may be stowed either inside the side elevational profile and perimeter of the carrier space base or moved to the carrier base underside, to establish both a stowed or a fully operative position, nor does the prior art provide for rapid and selective securement of the main sub-assembly in either said position. Also, no prior similar cart provides that the sub-assembly may itself secure each and every component without the user being required to affix or secure various component parts to the sub-assembly. As for the cargo carriers with selectively removable interconnection hitch element disclosures also made in this application, Martin, in Ser. No. 10/279,199, filed on Oct. 23, 2002, contemplates mounting a multiple use cargo carrier via a hitch mount to a vehicle. Martin described that the cargo carrier may include “removable wheels” and “removable handles” (see paragraph 0051), but Martin fails to contemplate a movably stowable wheel and handle, both having an operative and stowable non-detached position, thus avoiding inconvenient removal and reconstruction (the same is true for the underside supports). The applicant's disclosures also importantly provide not only for non-detaching stowable parts, but that the stowed position of the wheel, handle and underside supports preferably does not occupy any of the usable interior carrier space when the device is used to hold cargo while attached by hitch to a vehicle.